Wal-Mart Submits Plans to Build Store in Valley

PANORAMA CITY —  Discount giant Wal-Mart has submitted preliminary plans to build its first Los Angeles store on the site of the Van Nuys Drive-In, but the project may face tough sledding because of neighborhood concerns over traffic and noise.

The retail giant asked Los Angeles city planners in June to change the zoning for the 14-acre drive-in at Roscoe Boulevard and Noble Avenue. It represents the first of many steps toward construction of a 150,000-square-foot store.

If the project is eventually approved by Los Angeles officials and built, it would be the first Wal-Mart store in the city. Locally, the national chain owns stores in Glendora and the Antelope Valley among other Southern California locations.

In a testament to the potential strength of the area’s retail market, the plans are the second proposed for the San Fernando Valley in recent months. But by applying to develop the drive-in, Wal-Mart apparently is abandoning a proposal to develop a store on the site of the former General Motors plant in Van Nuys.

Building in the Valley would signal a gradual shift in the store’s traditional business practices, which analysts said has been to set up shop in rural areas with little competition.

By locating in an urban area such as the Valley, the store would be able to draw customers from a much larger area, but also would face direct competition from other big chains such as Target and K mart.

“They may have started out in the remote places,” said Ed Weller, managing director of Robertson Stevens & Co. in San Francisco, a financial analysis firm. “But you don’t get to be a $100-billion company without squeezing the metro markets pretty tight.”

Weller added that Wal-Mart’s strategy in the Valley would very likely be different than other retailers.

Although it can undercut small merchants in rural areas, its prices in cities are similar to other discount chains. As a result, it capitalizes on a friendly, down-home atmosphere.

“The package they offer is that they have what you want and the prices are low and the shopping experience is easy,” Weller said. “That is the common ground for all Wal-Marts.”

Whether the store will ever be built, however, is questionable. Communities across the country have decried Wal-Marts as destroyers of neighborhoods and small-town businesses. And already in Panorama City, the plans have neighbors and elected officials concerned.

Tom Henry, planning deputy for Los Angeles Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents the neighborhood, said his office is looking carefully at Wal-Mart’s proposal because of its proximity to nearby homes.

“We have not seen any plans presented to us yet, but our big question is going to be whether this is good planning practice,” Henry said. “The biggest concern the councilman has is whether this is the most appropriate place.”

The site is now zoned for apartments and single-family houses and abuts a neighborhood of single-family residences. Wal-Mart needs the city to change the zoning to allow commercial development.

Nationwide Theatres Corp. of Los Angeles, which owns the drive-in, has been trying to develop and sell the site for some time. Nationwide Theatres executives could not be reached Friday.

From a retailer’s perspective, the drive-in site would appear to be an ideal spot for a store. It is on a major street within two miles of three freeways and is relatively far from potential competitors.

Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris said he did not know of specific plans to build in Panorama City, but added that the company evaluates many sites before it decides on where to eventually build a store.

Andy Eisenstein, who lives less than two blocks from the site, said that while he sees the potential commercial value of the drive-in property, building a Wal-Mart would ruin the peaceful character of his neighborhood.

“This does not sound like something that is going to be good for our neighborhood at all,” Eisenstein said. “It would certainly have a negative impact on our streets.”

Eisenstein said the peculiar layout of his neighborhood--there are few through streets--would create nasty traffic snarls as customers and delivery trucks made their way to the store.

“With a Wal-Mart,” he said, “it would be unbearable.”

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., said he and many others would welcome a Wal-Mart to the San Fernando Valley, just not at the drive-in site.

“I’m sure if we had a Wal-Mart here in the Valley, it would be a big draw,” Schultz said, adding that he would prefer Wal-Mart to “find a site that won’t be adjacent to single-family neighborhoods.”

A community meeting has been scheduled for Oct. 16 to discuss the plans.

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